Analysing MagazinesAnalysing Magazines

By PaulBy Paul

NME CoverNME CoverMasthead

Lead article

Graphic and list of extras

Flash

Main Articles

The Left Third – more info on the lead article

Main Image

The masthead is covered this shows that the magazine believes that they are an established brand and people will recognise there house style. The Masthead is also a bold classic font.

They have also chosen quite a laid back handwritten/dairy feel for the lead article this makes it fell more personal.

The guy in the main image has not been styled he looks stressed and worn out yet happy. He's also holding a guitar this shows that he is a proper musician rather than just a singer. They have used a red and white theme for their front cover. These colours stand out really well with the dark background ‘backstage effect’ of the singers.

Zero Tolerance CoverZero Tolerance Cover

Masthead

Lead article?? Covered by the CD

Graphic and list of extras

Poster

Freebie

Main Image

This magazine is a hard core rock magazine. They are on there #37 issue. This magazine came in a pack with the CD attached over the main article. This could mean that they are more interested in promoting the free music/CD rather than the read the main article.

They have included a poster in the pack. This could be to help with sales etc. They have chosen a Burnt/Hot colour scheme with lost of reds and yellows. The saturation has been turned up on the normal image. They have broken away form the normal styles and put the masthead along the side.

MixMag MixMag CoverCover

Masthead

Main Image

No Graphic but list of extras

Flash

Main ArticlesThe Left Third – freebie

Lead Article

They too like ZT have a free CD on the front cover. This time its covering the main image. The main image is not something special however. The dull grey and black colour scheme gives a good contrast to the orange and the CD cover.

They have used quite a curly/circular font for the masthead and yet they have used a block/square font for the lead article this too gives contrast between the two.

NME ContentsNME Contents

Main Article

Lead article

Advertisement for subscription

List of what else in in the mag.

Main Article & Picture

Contents title

They have used the same red and white colour scheme that they used on the front page. The font is still Bold and square like the masthead and main articles on the front coverThe Contents and Front cover have to match this is called the house style. To keep the house style the same NME have chosen the same font and colours.

As a strategy to keep the people interested NME have advertised a subscription on the contents page. This says “like this month, like all months get at a reduced price” This secures the magazines finances and can give statistics, and can enable the magazine to see what the customer is interested in.

They have used Pull Quotes to for every main article. This is because people don’t tend to read the contents page. These quotes are here to make them interesting.

Zero Tolerance ContentsZero Tolerance ContentsBlog about the

magazine

List of Articles

Main Image

Unlike the other contents ZT has a lot of text on the contents page describing the people that work for the magazine. This could be a risky feature for a magazine that has only had 37 issues. However it has 37 issues and I have looked at a few other magazines and they too use this feature. This is quite like a mishon statement about the magazine, what has inspired them. It could be classed as a letter form the ediotor.

They have used a red, black and white colour scheme. This colour scheme is the same as NME contents yet the colours have been used in a different way. I like the NME contents because its got more images than text and it is not linear. Its based round the central image giving the NME a circular effect.

Mixmag Contents Mixmag Contents Cover

Subheadings and list of extras

Main Image

They have used very large images for the contents page. This is to help the magazine appeal to teens. Also with the image they have used a font size for the page number that is in ratio with the picture, i.e. the bigger the picture the bigger the page number.

They have used a very contrasting White on Black background. This compared to the other magazines that done Black on White this look s neater yet less professional.

In comparasion to the other contents I think that this one is not as good as the NME. This is because it still follows the Linear Layout. It looks very square. In this Contents they also show show desgined the cover and have a huge gap underneath. I don’t hink that this gap is nessary and for this I prefer the ZT contents as it uses the space wisely. Mixmag could of put a graphic or another picture in the space.

They could have chosen WOB because the cover is a dark cover using a grey scale picture with orange backing. This keeps the house style the same.

NME DPSNME DPSArticle title

Lead article

Pull Quote

Main Image

Drop Cap

The journalist has started off the article talking about the scene that the Warpaint girls are in. The first paragraph of the article sets an idyllic scene of sunshine, blue skies; this is shattered with the journalist mentioning children screaming and violent neighbours and police helicopters. This gives the readers a contrast that we then expect to read more of in the article. We presume that the theme of contrast and disharmony might be

central to the bands image. This is reinforced by the name of the band: Warpaint.

The images of the band are roughly places and overlap. This shows that they where not placed to a grid. They have also number the 4 girls that make up the band so u can see who the are.

Each band member in protrayed in a different way. 1 looks like she's childish where as 4 looks like a hard nut. This could be the image that the individual person portrays to the rest of the world. This would make the band very stereotypical.

The text page is very bland with colour use. They use it in the title for PAINT. And for the girls number’s. The pull quote is not about the band but an event they have attended.

ZT DPSZT DPSArticle title

Lead article

Advertisement

Main Image

Drop Cap

This dps is about Top Metal bands and what they have been doing recently. This DPS relies heavily on the Drop Cap feature. It has used a Drop Cap on the start of every event under The Radar.

A pull quote was not necessary in this article as the article is about the Radar. They have interviewed one of the a bands that are included under the Radar. In this have they included quotes.

When comparing this DPS to the NME DPS I prefer the NME as it looks moreintersting to read. This DPS is dull and creepy. It looks like a Halloween issue.

They have decided to place som advertising on this dps. One of the things under The Radar Is killing Joke releases an album this is then advertised underneath.

The headline and the Radar are both in a font that looks like it’s a dungeon or melting. This gives a more gory creepy look and fell to the page and the bands activates. They have used 4 columns to give the page a more spacious look. However this is contrased witht eh Big block of text on the otherside. This could be because the magazine likes to separate topics that are about the same text.

Mixmag DPSMixmag DPSArticle title

Main Image

This is the front page article. The Greatest DJS. Each DJ was interviewed saying why they need to be the greatest DJ. In this article they have used the Pull Quote for each DJ. The layout of the magazine if very much like a collage with photos and text overlaying this gives a nice ruff effect that will appeal to the target audience.

Pull Quote

Another feature that they have used in with the layout is a broacher layout. This makes it easier to read the DJ’s profiles and select the one u like the most. The Simple spacious enables the reader browes through the DJs at a faster and easier pace if they already have on in mind

Photographs

Captions

The way that the journalist has wrote the article gives it quite a personal edge. They use a majority of quotes which enables the text to feel more like a diary extract.

This gives a personal edge to the article. The journalist has chosen to do this because it fits in with the article making it more of a competition rather than a article.

This DPS is not really one that appeals to me. I like the simple layout of the NME magazine. One side with pictures one side with text. Also with the NME not all the information was given in the title this made me want to read on.

Overall…Overall…

Overall I like the NME magazine more Overall I like the NME magazine more because:because:

Its simple layouts (Circular contents, Pictures Its simple layouts (Circular contents, Pictures on one side, text on the other)on one side, text on the other)

Unusual titles (making me want to read more)Unusual titles (making me want to read more) Colour Schemes (the appeal to me and are Colour Schemes (the appeal to me and are

easy to read)easy to read)